I am excited about the success of this device called SQUARE……this is a card reader used as card acceptance device on mobile. It is said that more than 2 millions customers of US already use this device for payment acceptance. In India also, couple of similar card readers have been launched. It is slowly catching up in India also.
This partnership of Square and Satrbucks will certainly bring more customers to this business. Starbucks is having 7000 chain of shops and the company is known for its speciality in coffee and good customer service. A press note of this partnership has been released and you can find the details of this tie-up here…
There are many ways of promoting credit cards. But, I really like this unique way of promoting Credit cards. Honesty should not go unrewarded. This is the theme of selling credit cards. And this concept has been brought by National Australia Bank. Chief Executive of this Bank “Cameron Clyne” has to say about his bank in the following words:
“Our strategy is built around putting our customers at the centre and of everything we do and helping them realise their potential”
This Bank is having a customer strength of over 12 million accounts managed by over 50,000 staffs. But what they have recently done to customers is really touching. Actually who doesn’t like honesty and reward? And if these two words are used to give you public recognition then definitely you will like Bank and you will like their staff also.
Here you can find out the recent NAB video “Honesty shouldn’t go unrewarded”. The first line you see on their website is
“At NAB, we believe an honest credit card should do the right thing by you no matter how you use it.”
Please click following to go directly to their website and find out their unique campaign:
IMPS stands for Interbank Mobile Payment Service. Under the directive of Reserve Bank of India, this service was launched by NPCI (Natinal Payment Corporation of India) to facilitate Interbank transfer of fund using customer’s mobile account. The best thing of this service is that the transfer is instant to recipient’s account and sender will receive immediate confirmation message.
The Interbank Mobile Payment Service is an important milestone for further developing the usage of secure, inexpensive and efficient electronic payments, m-payments experiencing two digit growth globally. Let us find out how the funds can be transferred using IMPS. A customer with a bank account with any of the participating bank can use this facility, provided:
The customer is registered for Mobile Banking service of the Bank.
Has received MMID(Mobile Money Identifier) and MPIN from the Bank.
Has Mobile Banking application installed on his mobile set.
Here is the architecture diagram elaborating the transaction cycle from the remitter to the beneficiary.
A typical transaction of mobile payment follows following sequence:
The sender uses three inputs – MMID & mobile number of sender and amount to initiate transaction.
The amount is debited to Sender’s account and transaction is routed to NPCI.
Based on MMID details, NPCI forwards the mail to receiver’s bank.
Receiver Bank process the transaction and credit beneficiary’s account and sends response to NPCI.
NPCI forwards success response to sender’s bank.
Both the banks sends confirmation to their respective customer for a successful transaction.
CCIL(Clearing Corporation of India Ltd) affects debit/credit to all the participating Banks’s account and sends settlement report at end of the day.
As per the details available on various bank’s site, the per day transfer limit for encrypted messaging formats is Rs.50,000 per account and for unencrypted messaging formats the limit is Rs.1,000 per account. Customer can link more than one account to his MMID provided bank allows his customer for the same.
This money transfer using mobile reminds me of the similar facility in various markets but using more independent mobile money infrastructure. Like M-Pesa, M-kesho, Zap, Orange Money, U-Mo etc, this IMPS is not independent of Bank’s account, rather it is dependent on customer’s account maintained at bank. It is more secured and continuously monitored by NPCI for making it successful.
In India, currently more than 30 Banks are providing this service. But, an exciting success rate has not been reported in the recent past. Banks are having their own excuses for pushing it among its customers. They have to balance between various transfer options available for customers such as ATM transfer, Internet Banking transfer, RTGS and NEFT etc. However, I feel that NPCI should concentrate more on its marketing and channelize different means to reach to customers. I’s sure, this service’s benefit is more than its limitation.
And now Food for Thought for readers of mycardclub.com………
Sometimes, life hits you in the head with a brick. Do not lose faith. – Steve Jobs (Apple Inc founder)
Around 10 years back, there was a wave of e-commerce portals. Every e-commerce based companies were announcing plan to grab the Internet market for business. However, few find it lucrative now. Now a days, mobile money is also being considered as a lucrative business after the success of M-pesa in Kenya. India being a developing country presents an ideal platform for mobile money transfer. but while every e-commerce portal cannot become ebay, in the same way every mobile based payment system cannot become m-pesa.
Recently, the giant Mobile network operator Airtel has launched Airtel Mobile Money in India. It is a good news for Indian mobile subscribers. Mobile has become a fast medium to transfer money. There are many established and emerging markets around the world for mobile payments.
I have tried to compile some features of this service and also gone into the technical aspects of this service. Most of the service related details are available on its website. Airtel Mobile Money can perform money transfer, bill payment, pre-paid recharge. There are two types of account suggested – 1) Express Account and 2) Power Account. Express Account can load cash up to a limit of Rs.10,000, while for power account, this limit is Rs.50,000.
Any mobile payment related service adopts one of the following technologies for accessing mobile application sitting at the back-end.
1) USSD(Short code) based solution - This is very common among all the applications available. It is suitable to any platform and it is rather easy to implement. This solution is open type and there is less security available both at the user side as well as at the server side. The transaction takes place in the form of a series of text exchange(in one session) between the application platform and user. There is no menu based selection available and some code is sent to USSD Gateway to send signal to server to respond. Staff on the application side can see all the transaction and no encryption is available even for the PIN.
2) Java application based solution - An application resides at the application server side and upon registration, user receives a URL on the basis of which he can download application on mobile phone. Once downloaded, User can install application on his mobile set and use the menu selection for registration, inquiry and transfer etc. Limitation is that not all mobile set supports Java application and low end all users may not be having Internet facility. It is more secured than USSD based solution but many other measures has to be taken on server side to make it more secure and acceptable. It is menu driven and comparatively easy to use.
3) DSTK(Dynamic SIM Tool Kit) based solution - This is rather new technology and not all application is capable of offering this feature. However it is most recommended because it’s security and scalibility features. Under this solution, an application resides on the SIM card itself and it can be activated once the customer register himself with the solution. This is a called pre-loaded mobile application and it may cost the operator. It has more security features and menu is dynamic – orientation can be changed, some features can be made hidden and new features can be added on a later date. Encryption is available at both the side(SIM and Server) and it is very user-friendly.
After presenting some basic details of mobile payment system, here is my analysis of Airtel mobile money system:
1) This system presents a USSD based payment system and you have to dial *400# to get started. Now here as a user, you must be having airtel SIM card and you have to struggle to remember this short code and related sms code to get going.
2) Express account cannot send money. The basic concept of money transfer gets defeated here. However, the power account has this feature.
3) Sending money from one mobile account to another mobile account is possible only when both the subscribers are using same operator(airtel). To cut short, being an airtel subscriber, you cannot send money to Idea mobile customer. So, there is not interoperability between operators.
4) Success of mobile money is always dependent on network of agents. But here, this role is performed by Airtel outlets and relationship centers and not many of these centers are present now in every nook and corner of India.
5) Once you load cash, you cannot withdraw it. Yes, this is true and here RBI does not allow the airtel outlets to distribute cash to customers. This is one of the limitation of this program and it will result into restricted use of this service.
6) Subscribers are not getting any interest on the cash loaded onto the wallet. My fear is, subscriber will prefer money to be kept in saving account rather than transferring to mobile wallet. They can use debit card to make payment to almost all the merchants.
7) The difficulties faced by those citizens who are living in remote areas or villages are many. One of those is going to a far bank/post-office to get cash. And if they do not have bank account, then they are considered out of the banking financial system. No efforts have been taken by Airtel mobile money to reach to these customers.
8 ) Think of a situation where in future there will be 10 different operators offering mobile financial system. What will happen, if customer is not satisfied with the service and wants to shift to another operator? Will the Airtel oblige customer by providing refund of the amount kept in mwallet ? If not, the feature of number portability will be having no meaning here.
9) You cannot withdraw cash from any agent/outlet, however you can transfer this mwallet amount to any bank account. But this is going to cost the subscribers 2% of the amount minimum Rs.10.
10) Another aspect is that merchant can levy their own charges for using mobile money to pay for their merchandise. Remember, customers do not pay extra amount to buy merchandise using debit/credit card.
From the promotions the common people will understand that Airtel mobile money is for affluent person having swanky sets in their hand and going to movie theater, shopping mall etc. Nowhere in TVC, it has been highlighted that people living in rural area can also avail this service. Marketing team of Airtel has to really work hard on this aspect and make this service reachable to all. After all. it is said that heart of India lives in villages….you have to take this mobile money service to the heart of India.
Please see Airtel Mobile Money TVC here:
In spite of all the above considerable points for promoters, I personally wish a great success for Airtel Mobile Money in India.
And now Food for Thought for readers of mycardclub.com………
Though a man conquers a thousand men in battle, a greater conqueror still is he who conquers himself. – Gautam Buddha
HSBC has recently launched a new Visa Platinum and Signature credit card in association with Makemytrip.com travel portal. There are several promo going on for this product in print media. It has been claimed that this product will offer many new features which will enable customers to Shop More and Holiday More with the HSBC MakeMyTrip Platinum Credit Card.
Let us examine some Exclusive Benefits of this card:
HSBC MakeMyTrip Platinum Credit Cardholders will earn Reward points as follows -
5 points per INR 100 spent at MakeMyTrip
1.5 points per INR 100 spent at other merchants
The Reward points earned can be redeemed for MakeMyTrip cash vouchers, travel accessories and much more.
Here are some Exclusive Features & Benefits of this card:
- Get Welcome Gifts
- Upon payment of the Annual Fee for the 1st year of membership, HSBC MakeMyTrip Platinum Cardholders will be eligible for - MakeMyTrip discount vouchers worth INR 5500 including :
a. INR 750 voucher valid on International Return Flights
b. INR 750 voucher valid on 4 Star Plus Properties
c. INR 1500 voucher valid on Domestic Holidays
d. INR 2500 voucher valid on International Holidays
e. Two Domestic Flight Ticket Vouchers (base fare waiver)
There is another attraction in the form of Membership Anniversary Gift:
- On first year spends exceeding INR 100,000
- One additional Domestic Flight Ticket Voucher
And customer can get Other credit card benefits like:
- Lower interest payments
- Reduced interest payments with our lower interest options:
- Balance Transfer
- Conversion of purchases into EMIs with Loan on Phone
Customer can also get Online Access to credit card account through HSBC Internet Banking. Un-billed transactions, previous statements can be viewed online.
Customer can also avail additional credit cards to gift their loved ones (spouse, parents, brothers/ sisters, children) the freedom of spending by availing of upto 2 additional cards.
Zero Lost Credit Card Liability Benefit
Credit cardholders have zero lost-credit card liability after the loss of the credit card has been reported to the Bank in writing or to the VISA Global Emergency Assistance Helplines. However, customer is liable for all charges incurred on the credit card before the loss is reported to the bank.
Global Access
Cash advance facility can be availed round the clock from about 1 million ATMs worldwide. Also, customer can enquire about card balance, transfer funds from any HSBC ATM in India or overseas locations. The HSBC MakeMyTrip Platinum credit card is accepted at over 18 million establishments worldwide and over 100,000 establishments in India.
The card is having all the major features which can make this a good product, however we await response from customer in terms of membership and usage on the site.
The information contained in mycardclub.com is for general information purposes only and does not constitute professional financial advice. Please contact an independent financial professional for advice regarding your specific situation.
By reading this blog you acknowledge full responsibility for your actions with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly in connection with the blog.
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